Diana forced labor camp

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Memorial stele (2007)

The forced labor camp Diana was in the era of National Socialism existing forced labor camp in Magdeburg district Westerhüsen .

location

The camp was located immediately north of the Westerhüsen cemetery , west of Holsteiner Strasse , at Holsteiner Strasse 66 . Today the Tonschacht sports field is located on the site .

The camp was accessed from the east on Holsteiner Strasse. To the left of the entrance was the guard and the camp leader's accommodation. On the right a flagpole, the dog pen and to the north of this a larger barrack in which Ukrainian forced laborers were housed. There was a small green space in the middle of the camp. The Polish barracks stood on the south side of the camp . Directly opposite the entrance was the barracks used by Western European foreign and forced laborers. Here were French , Italians and Belgians accommodated. The camp police were also based there. The Russian barracks and the kitchen were located on the north side of the camp .

history

The camp was built in 1942 on an area that had previously been used as a sports field since 1925. The client was the Fahlberg-List chemical plant , whose production facility was located further to the northeast. The camp, which consisted of several barracks, housed around 350 forced laborers who were employed at Fahlberg-List. For the most part, the people came from Eastern Europe , mainly from the area of ​​the former Soviet Union and Poland . However, there were also forced laborers from other countries temporarily occupied by Germany during World War II . About 40 people from Western European countries were in the camp. Because of the poor working and living conditions and poor medical care, many forced laborers and children living in the camp perished. The dead were buried in a separate foreigners cemetery , today's United Nations field on the south side of the Westerhüsen cemetery. Overall, however, the living conditions were considerably better than in concentration or penal camps .

The situation in the camp is passed down through the notes of the French forced laborer Georges Goris (1919–2007), who lived in the camp from March 12, 1943 and had to do forced labor as part of the French compulsory labor service. Goris was an assistant laboratory assistant by profession and was employed as such at the Fahlberg-List chemical plant. Because of his origins in Western Europe and his professional qualifications, he was probably privileged in relation to forced laborers from Eastern Europe. He and his French colleagues were given the opportunity to choose between accommodation in a foreign labor camp or an apartment in the city. In order to save money and avoid possible bomb attacks, it was decided to stay in the camp. There were also foreigners living in the camp who had come to Germany voluntarily to avoid unemployment at home and to earn money in Germany. It is also known that at least one Flemish member of the Christian Youth Workers , the Jeunesse Ouvriere Chretienne (JOC), was in the camp. He was in possession of a Christian documentation with which the organization tried to influence Nazi Germany in a Christian way. The whereabouts of this activist is unknown.

working conditions

Depending on the specific work task, the working conditions turned out to be very difficult. The weekly working hours were 54 to 90 hours. At least the French workers received wages. The average wage was 100 marks a month, minus 20% for taxes and social security. A maximum of 230 marks could be paid. At Fahlberg-List it was possible for the French workers to transfer their wages to their families in France. In Germany, the money could only be used to a limited extent, as the forced laborers did not have the necessary ration cards.

The partly inadequate equipment of workplaces at which hazardous substances had to be handled was dangerous. A young Flame died after he about a year in a research laboratory of Fahlberg List with mercury (II) chloride had been working on a mercury poisoning . The forced laborer Georges Goris was then urged by his superior, the local NSDAP leader Bernhard Gaudian, to work in a laboratory with mercury chloride compounds. Goris, who was aware of the death of his Flemish colleague, refused, citing a simulated stomach disease. Gaudian then consulted with the head of the research laboratory, Gustav Gassner, and announced as a result that he could not be compelled due to the circumstances under war law. Goris was then practically transferred to a sentence and used to do physically difficult work as a so-called farm worker. The German employee who took up the job of Goris instead died, probably due to work, just six months later. Goris reported that his hair was falling out.

The frequent accusations of sabotage , which could result in draconian punishments, were particularly problematic for the forced laborers . Workers were deported to dreaded penal camps because they had put their tools aside ten minutes before the end of work. Other reasons such as insufficient work performance, repeated failure to start the fire service after work, attempted escape, insulting or rebellion against the National Socialist regime could lead to the deportation. The worst conditions prevailed in these so-called labor education camps. After about six weeks, previously healthy people were emaciated down to the skeleton. After a little longer, the physical decline was so advanced that there was acute danger to life and ultimately death.

At least for the French workers, meals took place at lunchtime in the plant, with the same food as the German employees and free choice of seats. A light snack was given out for breakfast the evening before. However, food stamps were not provided. Dinner took place in the camp and had to be organized by yourself, with only one stove available for 14 slave laborers in the French room. The supply of the French workers was made easier by sending parcels to their relatives living in their homeland, which did not take place when the Allies landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. They also took part in illegal but widespread barter transactions. In particular, the saccharin produced by Fahlberg-List was a sought-after black market object. There was also poaching , for example in the Kreuzhorst area on the other side of the Elbe . Many of the Eastern European female forced laborers also worked on Saturdays and Sundays for local vegetable gardeners and were given additional food for free. However, there was no guarantee that the goods obtained in this way would not be taken from them by the guards. The guards could also hit and kick them. There was insufficient wood and briquette filtration to heat the barracks. The laundry could be washed in the factory, where showering was also possible.

There was a very limited possibility of vacation. For example, one of the twelve French forced laborers was drawn who was allowed to travel to France for eight days. The other eleven had to sign that, in the event that the winner does not return, they would agree not to go to France for a year. After the return of the first one, the one drawn as second was allowed to drive.

After the destruction of Magdeburg by the devastating air raid on January 16, 1945, the forced laborers were called in to clean up downtown Magdeburg . The group had to help with the construction of small bunkers near the Sternbrücke , the then Adolf-Hitler-Brücke . Emaciated Jewish prisoners also worked here, except for their skeletons . During this work, a heavy machine gun was aimed at the workers. Not far from the bridge, the forced laborers witnessed abuse of Jewish prisoners during a roll call during which two Jewish prisoners were shot dead in the head and chest.

Camp life

The camp leader was NSDAP member Schmitt . Schmitt, who always appeared in uniform and armed, was a World War I veteran and lived in the camp. Schmitt's behavior towards Western European forced laborers is described as strict but polite. He is said to have been strict and also violent towards Eastern Europeans. Every now and then he practiced the training of his police dog in the green area in the middle of the camp in order to appear intimidating. Incidentally, he is said to have enjoyed the role of the sometimes moralizing father. When he was almost accidentally hit by two liters of water, his first reaction is said to have been to reach for the revolver, but in the end he only walked away scolding. The camp was guarded by five armed guards. When you passed the camp gate you had to show your ID to the guard. It is reported that someone who evaded ID was beaten with a belt with a metal buckle.

There were also clashes between forced laborers. A Polish forced laborer who felt himself betrayed by a compatriot hit his sleeping colleague with a heavy iron bar so that he suffered a fractured skull . The attacker was caught and immediately hanged on the Fahlberg-List company premises.

The barracks contaminated with bedbugs were regularly disinfected . For this purpose, several sulfur cartridges were burned in metal barrels while the slave laborers were working in the factory . The barracks residents spat bright pink for a few days afterwards. The bug infestation remained, however. The opportunities for personal hygiene were inadequate, and those who tried to use the washing facilities in the factory were able to do so.

Medical care for the forced laborers was provided by an old military doctor who held a consultation hour at 10 a.m. on the factory premises. In addition, there was an infirmary that of one on tuberculosis diseased Ukrainian was led nurse. In principle, however, there was also the possibility of treatment in a German hospital and use of a pharmacy in the case of serious illnesses, whereby the Adler pharmacy was on the corner of Hadmersleber Strasse and Alt Salbke opposite the plant.

Not far from the barracks, a W-shaped trench was dug to serve as protection in the event of an air alarm. During an attack, it is said to have been impacts only 20 meters away. Those seeking protection in the trench were hit by clods of earth, but were not injured.

Some Allied pilots, whose planes had been shot down, but who managed to save themselves, hid in the camp.

leisure

In their free time, the residents of the camp played soccer, and in winter there were extensive snowball fights between Eastern and Western Europeans. On the weekends there were often dance events and orchestral concerts in the Polish barracks. Presumably, the Polish residents managed to negotiate certain freedoms by bribing the camp police with black market goods. The camp residents could also leave the camp outside of working hours. Love relationships arose in this way. Using secret signals, people arranged to meet on the Elbe or in the woods that were difficult to see. The couples left the camp separately at a certain time. After work was over , restaurants in Westerhüsen or Salbke were also visited. The meeting point for the French workers was the so-called Cafe “J'Hann” on Alt Westerhüsen . The traditional Goldenes Schiff restaurant in Westerhüsen and the casino directly opposite the main entrance of Fahlberg-List were also visited occasionally. Every now and then, cultural offers were also taken advantage of in the city center or the Westerhüser cinema was visited.

It was also possible to attend church services in German parishes. Several French and Belgian workers regularly attended the services of the Catholic parish of Sankt-Johann-Baptist in the Salbke district of Magdeburg . Although contacts with the local population were strictly forbidden, contacts were made. In some cases, friendships even developed that were still fostered in the post-war period.

Dissolution of the camp

The camp existed as a forced labor camp until the area was occupied by US troops on April 11 or 12, 1945. On the afternoon of April 11, 1945, an enemy alarm was given for Magdeburg . According to a forced laborer, US soldiers are said to have entered the camp shortly afterwards. According to other information, the US troops did not advance to Westerhüsen via Salbke until April 12, 1945. The first US soldiers who entered the camp were Polish soldiers. Russian and Polish forced laborers kneeled down in front of the soldiers and kissed them in gratitude for their liberation. The German guards had quickly withdrawn beforehand. Camp leader Schmitt had stayed, however, and had merely exchanged his uniform for civilian golf clothing and an English-style cap. The Polish soldiers asked the Polish forced laborers about his behavior, which was described positively. Schmitt was therefore allowed to leave the camp. He took items with him on a small cart, including a radio and a mattress. The liberating soldiers soon disappeared again. Russian prisoners played darts with the bayonets of the former guards on the portrait of Adolf Hitler at the former guard post.

On the afternoon of April 14, 1945, the camp was damaged by bombs. Bomb fragments scalped the Walloon Guy Casaigne , and wounded two Russians in the stomach. Since the camp was not far from the front line, which ran along the Elbe in the east, many forced laborers left the camp and went further west, into the areas already safely held by the Americans. On April 15, the US soldiers announced that their unit would withdraw and that the remaining residents should also leave. Another part of the residents then left the camp. Others stayed, some of them had found friends here.

After that, the barracks were initially used as makeshift accommodation for people displaced from eastern Germany and for Magdeburg residents who had become homeless as a result of the bombing. The barracks were later torn down and a sports field was set up again.

Commemoration

The exact number of people who perished in the camp as a result of poor working and living conditions is not known. In 2005, a memorial stele created by Wolfgang Roßdeutscher was erected to commemorate the camp .

In a letter dated September 24, 1943, the forced laborer Georges Goris wrote the poem La Baraque du STO during his time in the Diana forced labor camp , which was later published both in the French original and with the title The Forced Labor Barracks in German translation. In the poem, Goris describes the barracks he also drew as a substitute for home and his simultaneous longing to leave it as free as possible as soon as possible.

literature

  • Georges Goris: memories.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Herbert Rasenberger , From the sweet beginning to the bitter end. dr. ziethen verlag, Oschersleben, ISBN 978-3-938380-06-2 , p. 60.
  2. ↑ a b c d Georges Goris: The Art of Surviving. In: memories.
  3. ↑ a b Georges Goris: Discipline-Sabotage-Mass Graves. In: memories.
  4. ↑ Georges Goris: Memories.
  5. ↑ a b c d Georges Goris: Life in the camp. In: memories.
  6. ↑ Georges Goris: The wages. In: memories.
  7. ↑ a b c d Georges Goris: Work memories. In: memories.
  8. ^ A b Georges Goris: entertainment and leisure. In: memories.
  9. ↑ Georges Goris: The destruction of Magdeburg on January 16, 1945. In: Memories.
  10. ↑ Georges Goris: The Grothe Family, My Damascus Experience, My Second Family. In: memories.
  11. ^ A b c Georges Goris: The invasion of the Americans on April 11, 1945. In: Memories.
  12. ↑ Herbert Rasenberger: From the sweet beginning to the bitter end. dr. ziethen verlag Oschersleben, ISBN 978-3-938380-06-2 , p. 67 f.
  13. ↑ Georges Goris: La Baraque du STO In: But see we live. From internal resistance. Forced labor 1939–1945. 3. Edition. Geest-Verlag, Vechta-Langenförden 2008, ISBN 3-937844-42-2 , p. 15 ff.

Coordinates: 52 ° 3 ′ 37.9 ″  N , 11 ° 40 ′ 30.2 ″  E